2013 Super Chevy Show - Royal Purple Raceway

Baytown Bowties - Royal Purple Raceway hosts the 11th event in the Super Chevy Show Series and the Second Visit to Texas

The last weekend in September was a double header for the Super Chevy Show series. Texas and Tennessee were both hosting these bow-tie only events. Half of the staff headed to Bristol, while the other half took a trip to the southwest area of the lone star state. You can read all about what went down in Bristol in this very issue.

Royal Purple Raceway is located in Baytown, Texas, and was the sight of a single day Super Chevy Show and the second visit of the series to the Lone Star State in 2013. The show was supposed to run two days but an unwanted visit from Mother Nature shut the show down on Sunday. Saturday was dry enough to stuff two days worth of show into one, the only real casualty of the rain was the drag racing finals.

The car show kicked off Saturday morning with a cruise sponsored by and starting at Ron Craft Chevrolet, a few miles away from the track. Cruisers were greeted with coffee and doughnuts as they lined up for the road trip. A few of Houston’s boys in blue showed up to give the long line of cars an escort, making it a nice uninterrupted ride. Once the cruisers made it to the track they were funneled into the staging lanes, then out on the return road of the track for a parade lap in front of the grandstands. From there they were parked in the show field.

This event had the show field laid out a bit different than usual. Typically the show cars are separated by class, so all the tri fives park together, then the ’Vettes, and so on. This time all cars were parked in rows by when they arrived. So for a change we had 5th gen Camaros parked next to 1st gens and trucks next to Bel Airs. While it made judging a bit harder, it was nice to see something different around each fender.

The staging lanes were busy all day, as everything from junior dragsters to altereds tripped the lights at the end of the track. One thing we are sure of, Texans love their horsepower. There were so many sub 11-second vehicles of all types it made watching the races a blast. Even with the rain the event was a good time, and we look forward to coming back next year.

Results

Editors Choice Car Show Awards

Joseph Mouton

New Orleans, LA

’55 Bel Air

Kenny Frederic

Geismar, LA

’57 Bel Air

Randy Blackwell

Highlands, TX

’61 Corvette

Danny Licatine

Baytown, TX

’65 Impala

Kevin McElroy

Baycliff, TX

’66 El Camino

Wayne Williams

Baytown, TX

’68 Camaro

Kevin Bellard

Welsh, TX

’69 Chevelle

Daniel Mark

Houston, TX

’71 Monte Carlo

Vincent Pilney

Kenan, TX

’73 Camaro

Anna Kidder

Crosby, TX

’75 Nova

Editors Choice Drag Car Awards

Earl Thrift

Houston, TX

’55 Bel Air

Mitchell Lawrence

Baytown, TX

’55 Bel Air

Jim Parchman

Montgomery, TX

’65 Chevelle

Mike Shishkoff

Houston, TX

’67 Camaro

Billy Talbot

League City, TX

’69 Camaro

Tom Hard

Baytown,TX

’69 Camaro

Brad Bloomer

Sugarland,TX

’69 Nova

Gene Fontenot

Dayton,TX

’76 LUV

James Fruge

Orange, TX

’81 Camaro

Dewayne League

Houston, TX

’85 S-10

Drag Race Results

Sportsman Jr. Dragster

Champion

Blaine Hightower

Crosby, TX

Runner Up

Dalton Lummus

China, TX

Footbrake

Champion

Brian Gallagher

Houston, TX

Runner Up

Terry Frederich

Par, TX

Bracket Electronics

Champion

Brian Holloway

Houston, TX

Runner Up

Mitchell Lawrence

Baytown, TX

D.O.T.

Champion

Matthew Legg

LaPorte, TX

Runner Up

Laurie Vontur

San Antonio, TX

Altered

Champion

Howard Farris

Springtown, TX

Runner Up

Mary Reep

Austin, TX

14/30

11. One of our Editor’s Choice drag awards went to Dewayne League of Deer Park, Texas, and his ’85 S-10. The little truck has a 408 mouse backed by a Powerglide with a 4200 stall, and a 4.10-geared 9-inch.

24/30

15. One of our heroes of the day was James Fruge and his 468 big-block powered ’81 Camaro. James is the one in the wheel chair and he races using hand controls. Talk about a handful—you try running a 9.78 without using your feet.

Here are the Houston, Texas winners from the AMSOIL Best of the Best Competition, presented by Danchuk and Classic Muscle:

25/30

26/30

Tri-Five—Wayne Hick, ’55 Chevy Bel Air Sedan

27/30

Camaro—Patrick Grigsby, ’72 Chevy Camaro RS

28/30

Chevelle—Kevin McElroy, ’66 Chevy El Camino

29/30

Nova—Laurie Vontur, ’66 Chevy Nova

30/30

Fullsize, ’58-up—Danny Licatino, ’65 Chevy Impala SS

The AMSOIL Best of the Best voting begins the Monday after each Super Chevy Show and lasts through the following Monday at midnight. Keep your browser aimed at bestofthebest.superchevy.com to vote for next batch of classic Bow Ties.

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